A new Nintendo Direct as long as the Switch 2 reveal is coming this week, but this one is dedicated to Super Smash Bros creator Masahiro Sakurai's true love: Kirby Air Riders

If you thought the original Kirby Air Riders Nintendo Direct was excessive, Nintendo has confirmed the second presentation is happening later this week and will be a full hour.

Nintendo confirmed a sequel to the cult-classic GameCube racing game in the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct earlier this year, which took a lot of people by surprise. Even more surprising was that it was Nintendo who asked Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai to make it, with everyone – including Nintendo’s former marketing managers – assuming it was some sort of bargaining chip to let him create a passion project before the next Smash Bros.

But even though it was Nintendo, Masahiro Sakurai seems incredibly passionate, as we got over 45 minutes of breakdown about the game during its own Nintendo Direct, and while we had no idea what else he could say about it, Sakurai promised there would be a second one.

Months later and Nintendo has confirmed the second Kirby Air Riders Nintendo Direct will be this week on Thursday, October 23 at 2pm BST / 9am ET / 6am PT. And if you thought 45 minutes was too much, Nintendo has confirmed that the new direct will come in at a brisk 60 minutes (That's as long as the Nintendo Direct that revealed the Switch 2 hardware and a ton of games.)

This direct will once again be hosted by Masahiro Sakurai, who in the past has had sections in his game-specific directs focused on tiny animations (like Olimar's helmet cracking in Smash Bros. Ultimate), although granted, you also get a lot of gameplay. The previous Kirby Air Riders Direct featured a teaser for some form of a story mode at the end, so I'd have to assume a good chunk of the runtime will be spent on that as well.

After conquering YouTube, Kirby and Super Smash Bros' Masahiro Sakurai is now getting a 160-page manga about his life and art